Fewer Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, indicating companies continue to hire at a modest but steady pace.
Fewer Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, indicating companies continue to hire at a modest but steady pace.
The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications for unemployment benefits fell 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 366,000.
The four-week average, a less volatile measure, dropped to 350,500, the lowest in nearly five years. The average is low because of seasonal factors, which reduced applications sharply last month.
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The automatic budget cuts that took effect March 1 are forcing a 10.7 percent reduction in extended unemployment benefits for thousands of idled Idaho workers — at least through September, the Idaho Department of Labor reported Thursday.
WASHINGTON — Unemployment rates declined last month in more than half of the 372 largest U.S. cities, further evidence of steady improvement in the job market.
Whatcom's unemployment rate remained among the lowest in the state last month, but keeping it below 7 percent could be a challenge in the months ahead.
In November the unemployment rate in Whatcom County was 6.5 percent, up slightly from a revised October rate of 6.3 percent, according to data from the Washington State Employment Security Division.
November's rate is the third straight month that Whatcom County was under 7 percent; that hasn't happened locally since 2008.
The federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation program is set to expire Dec. 29, which means as many as 60,000 Washington job seekers will lose their jobless benefits, the state Employment Security Department announced Monday.
Initial claims for unemployment benefits posted their fourth straight big decline last week to their lowest level since early October as the effect of Superstorm Sandy on the jobs market continued to dissipate.
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